Posted on by Staff Report

NASCAR issued the following statement Sunday night:

“Late this afternoon, NASCAR was made aware that a noose was found in the garage stall of the 43 team. We are angry and outraged, and cannot state strongly enough how seriously we take this heinous act. We have launched an immediate investigation, and will do everything we can to identify the person(s) responsible and eliminate them from the sport. As we have stated unequivocally, there is no place for racism in NASCAR, and this act only strengthens our resolve to make the sport open and welcoming to all.”

Bubba Wallace drives the No. 43 Chevrolet for Richard Petty Motorsports. The lone Black driver in the NASCAR Cup Series, Wallace has used his voice and platform over recent weeks to speak out against racial injustice in the world.

He released his own statement later Sunday, vowing to not give in or back down in his quest.

Posted on by Staff Report

Which channels have NASCAR programming this week? We answer that and give the weekly NASCAR television listings here in the NASCAR TV schedule.

Note: All times are ET.

MORE: How to find NBCSN | Get the NBC Sports App | How to find FS1 | Get FOX Sports App

RELATED: How to follow races on NASCAR.com | NASCAR Live Stream

Monday, June 22
Midnight, Dale Jr. Download: Matt Kenseth (re-air), NBCSN/NBC Sports App
1 a.m., Dale Jr. Download: Kurt Busch (re-air), NBCSN/NBC Sports App
2 a.m., Dale Jr. Download: Kyle Petty (re-air), NBCSN/NBC Sports App
2 a.m., NASCAR Auto Racing Classics: 2010 Aaron’s 499 (re-air), FS1/FOX Sports App
3 p.m., NASCAR Cup Series: GEICO 500, FOX/FOX Sports App
8 p.m., NASCAR Auto Racing Classics: 2010 Aaron’s 499 (re-air), FS2/FOX Sports App

On MRN
3 p.m., NASCAR Cup Series GEICO 500

Tuesday, June 23
1 a.m., NASCAR Cup Series: GEICO 500 (re-air), FS1/FOX Sports App
10 a.m., Refuse to Lose: Jeff Gordon and the 1997 Daytona 500 (re-air), FS1/FOX Sports App
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1/FOX Sports App

On MRN
7 p.m., NASCAR Live

Wednesday, June 24
10 a.m., NASCAR Race Hub (re-air), FS1/FOX Sports App
4 p.m., NASCAR Auto Racing Classics: 1985 Xfinity Series (re-air), FS1/FOX Sports App
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1/FOX Sports App
6 p.m., Dale Jr. Download: Michael Waltrip: The Cruelest Thing, NBCSN/NBC Sports App
7 p.m., NASCAR Auto Racing Classics: 2005 Daytona 500 (re-air), FS1/FOX Sports App

Thursday, June 25
1:30 a.m., NASCAR Auto Racing Classics: 2005 Daytona 500 (re-air), FS1/FOX Sports App
4:30 a.m., A Perfect Storm: The 1979 Daytona 500 (re-air), FS1/FOX Sports App
4 p.m., NASCAR Auto Racing Classics: 1990 Busch Series Goody’s 300 (re-air), FS1/FOX Sports App
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1/FOX Sports App
7 p.m., Refuse to Lose: Jeff Gordon and the 1997 Daytona 500 (re-air), FS1/FOX Sports App

On MRN
Noon, MRN Crew Call

Friday, June 26
6 p.m., ARCA Menards Series: General Tire #ANYWHEREISPOSSIBLE 200, FS1/FOX Sports App
8 p.m., NASCAR Auto Racing Classics: 2005 Daytona 500 (re-air), FS2/FOX Sports App
11 p.m., 100,000 Cameras: The Return of NASCAR (re-air), FS2/FOX Sports App

On MRN
6 p.m., ARCA Menards Series: General Tire #ANYWHEREISPOSSIBLE 200

Saturday, June 27
Midnight, NASCAR Auto Racing: Whelen Modified Tour Wade Cole Memorial 133 (tape delayed), NBCSN/NBC Sports App
12:30 a.m., ARCA Menards Series: General Tire #ANYWHEREISPOSSIBLE 200 (re-air), FS1/FOX Sports App
2:30 a.m., Beyond the Wheel (re-air), FS1/FOX Sports App
6:30 a.m., ARCA Menards Series: General Tire #ANYWHEREISPOSSIBLE 200 (re-air), FS1/FOX Sports App
11:30 a.m., NASCAR Race Classic: 1994 Coke 600 (re-air), FS1/FOX Sports App
Noon, 100,000 Cameras: The Return of NASCAR (re-air), FS1/FOX Sports App
3 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FOX/FOX Sports App
4:35 p.m., NASCAR Cup Series: Pocono Organics 325, FOX/FOX Sports App
9:30 p.m., NASCAR Cup Series: Pocono Organics 325 (re-air), FS1/FOX Sports App

On MRN
4:35 p.m., NASCAR Cup Series: Pocono Organics 325

Sunday, June 28
9:30 a.m., NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series: Pocono Organics 150, FS1/FOX Sports App
12:30 p.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series: Pocono Green 225, FS1/FOX Sports App
3:30 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1/FOX Sports App
4 p.m., NASCAR Cup Series: Pocono 350, FS1/FOX Sports App
7 p.m., NASCAR Cup Series: Pocono 350 (re-air), FS1/FOX Sports App
10 p.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series: Pocono Green 225 (re-air), FS1/FOX Sports App

On MRN
9:30 a.m., NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series: Pocono Organics 150
Noon, NASCAR Xfinity Series: Pocono Green 225
3 p.m., NASCAR Cup Series: Pocono 350

Posted on by Staff Report

Rain, lightning and heavy winds in the late afternoon at Talladega Superspeedway ultimately led to the postponement of Sunday’s GEICO 500 until Monday. The race will now move to 3 p.m. ET on Monday with coverage on FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio and NASCAR.com.

RELATED: Starting Lineup | Track your fantasy team

Martin Truex Jr. will lead the field to the green in the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. Teammate Denny Hamlin, who won last week at Homestead-Miami Speedway, will also start on the front row. The race is scheduled for 188 laps with a competition caution planned for Lap 25.

NASCAR issued a lightning warning at 2:39 p.m. ET on Sunday and then rain began falling at the track shortly before 3 p.m. ET. Heavy rain and winds soon followed as a storm system moved through the area of the 2.66-mile track. Track-drying efforts started at 4:05 p.m. ET, and the lightning warning was lifted at 4:27 p.m. ET. However, another storm swept through the area at 5 p.m. ET, and the track was lost.

The GEICO 500 is the 13th points-paying race of the NASCAR Cup Series season and the ninth event since NASCAR resumed action due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

Posted on by Staff Report

Lightning strikes near Talladega Superspeedway and rain delayed the start of Sunday’s GEICO 500 for the NASCAR Cup Series. Green flag was originally slated for 3:24 p.m. ET, but a lightning warning that went out at 2:39 p.m. ET put things in a holding pattern for at least 30 minutes. Then, rain started to fall at the track shortly before 3 p.m. ET.

RELATED: Starting Lineup | Track your Fantasy Live team

NASCAR had a track-drying team of 18 Air Titans, eight jet dryers, two track vacuums and an Elgin sweeper on hand to dry the 2.66-mile superspeedway. At 4:05 p.m. ET, track-drying efforts began. At 4:27 p.m. ET, NASCAR gave the all-clear from the lighting alert. However, another lightning alert went out at 4:59 p.m. ET and rain began falling again at 5. The track was eventually lost and the race postponed to Monday at 3 p.m. ET on FOX.

Martin Truex Jr. will lead the field to green in the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. Teammate Denny Hamlin, who won last week at Homestead-Miami Speedway, will also start on the front row. The race was scheduled for 188 laps with Stage 1 ending on Lap 60 and Stage 2 finishing on Lap 120. A competition caution was planned for Lap 25.

Posted on by PJ Walsh

The Action Network specializes in providing sports betting insights/analytics and is a content partner with NASCAR. Check out more NASCAR betting
analysis here.

It’s been tough trying to bet race winners since NASCAR returned. With no practice, NASCAR handicappers are missing one key piece of information that often helps pinpoint which cars will be fast in a given event.

However, that is not true at superspeedways like Talladega, which will host Monday’s GEICO 500 (3 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Because cars will draft in large packs at Talladega Superspeedway, practice doesn’t offer much meaningful data. Basically, the number of cars drafting together decides the speed of those drivers, not necessarily the individual speed in each car.

With this in mind, we’ll lean on historical data from Talladega and Daytona, another superspeedway with pack racing.

Be sure to follow me on Twitter (@PJWalsh24) for any additional bets I make for the GEICO 500.

NASCAR at Talladega Odds, Betting Picks

*Odds as of Sunday at 7 a.m. ET

Joey Logano (+900) to Win at Talladega

Over the past eight races at Talladega, Logano sports the best average finish, the second-best average running position and the best driver rating, including two wins and five top-five finishes.

And perhaps more importantly, Logano has the best average running position, the most laps led and the best driver rating over the past four superspeedway races (Daytona and Talladega), which is significant because NASCAR got rid of restrictor plates after the 2019 Daytona 500 in favor of tapered spacers, which is part of the package cars will run Monday.

With that said, Monday’s GEICO 500 will use an updated race package, including improved safety measures following Ryan Newman’s crash at the Daytona 500 in February, with the changes meant to slow down the cars.

However, pack racing seems to be the same pack racing at Talladega no matter what changes with the cars, so I’m expecting the racing to look like it always has.

Aric Almirola (+2200) to Win at Talladega

Almirola was interesting to me heading into the week, but his stats at Talladega were even better once I dug deeper.

Since joining Stewart-Haas Racing in 2018, Almirola has one win, four top-10 finishes and the third-best driver rating in four races at Talladega.

Even more impressively, if we back out to eight races, which includes four more Talladega events while driving for Richard Petty Motorsports, Aric has the best (!) average finish among all Cup Series drivers.

There are a lot of reasons to like Almirola today, especially at the mid-tier price of 22-1.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (+2500) to Win at Talladega

At this number, this is my favorite bet of the day. Ricky has always been a boom-or-bust option at the superspeedways, but as bettors we don’t look to back drivers who just settle for solid finishes — we need drivers who push their car to the limits (or past them) in order to contend for wins.

The JTG Daugherty Racing driver has two career wins (one each at Daytona and Talladega) and five of his 17 Cup Series top-five finishes have come at ‘Dega.

Each of those wins and top fives came with his previous team, Roush Fenway Racing, but Stenhouse picked up right where he left off in the 2020 Daytona 500, showing plenty of speed and finishing with the third-most laps led.

Chris Buescher (+7000) to Win at Talladega

While the racing is certainly unpredictable at this race track, there hasn’t been a true long-shot winner since David Ragan took the checkered flag back in May of 2013.

I’m instead opting to play the true long shots for top-10 finishes as opposed to outright wins.

With that said, Buescher is a long shot worth betting to win for two reasons. First, he’s now driving the No. 17 Ford for Roush Fenway Racing that was previously piloted by Stenhouse, which, as I detailed above, always has plenty of speed at the superspeedways.

And second, Buescher was impressive in his first superspeedway race with his new team — the 2020 Daytona 500 — in which he finished third with the fifth-best driver rating.

Posted on by Staff Report

Earlier this month in response to mounting civil unrest surrounding the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and others, Denny Hamlin was one of several drivers to unite for a message of, “I will listen and learn.”

MORE: Drivers unite for message of social change | NASCAR appoints VP, Diversity and Inclusion

Sunday morning, Hamlin tweeted out that he was keeping his promise and will sport a paint scheme dedicated to the National Civil Rights Museum on his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota — typically occupied by 36-race sponsor FedEx — in Monday’s GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway (3 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Joe Gibbs Racing followed up with a video tweet explaining that FedEx chose to remove all of their branding to spotlight the Memphis, Tennessee, museum. The museum also mentioned that in addition to the paint scheme, FedEx will donate $500,000 to its mission as a catalyst for change.

Posted on by Terrin Waack

Ross Chastain came .299 seconds short of the checkered flag Saturday at Talladega Superspeedway, but the driver of the No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet still left the Alabama track a winner.

Thanks to his runner-up finish in the NASCAR Xfinity Series’ Unhinged 300 behind teammate Justin Haley, Chastain took home the $100,000 Dash 4 Cash prize money. He was the highest finisher among his race-within-a-race competitors: AJ Allmendinger, Brandon Jones and Chase Briscoe. Chastain led a race-high 24 of 113 laps around the 2.66-mile circuit. He was fourth and fifth, respectively, in Stages 1 and 2.

RELATED: Justin Haley wins first NASCAR Xfinity Series race

“The almighty dollar still wins in the world, so it’ll go a long way,” Chastain said. “It doesn’t all go to me. No driver gets all of it. Don’t let anybody fool you. But everybody gets bonuses on the team. It helps the whole program. It makes the bad days a little easier.”

Allmendinger won last weekend’s Dash 4 Cash bonus at Homestead-Miami Speedway. He finished Talladega seventh despite spending the first two stages toward the back of the pack. He was 23rd in Stage 1 and 25th in Stage 2. Allmendinger, who drew a 34th starting spot, had to drop to the rear prior to the green flag because his No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet failed pre-race inspection three times.

Jones came in 16th at Talladega with his No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. He got caught up in the race’s final crash along with 10 other cars on Lap 106 after placing fifth and eighth in the first two stages.

Chase Briscoe was third in Stage 1, won Stage 2 and led 15 laps overall, but he ended up 18th at Talladega after getting involved in a multi-car wreck in the final stage. His No. 98 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford got tangled up with Riley Herbst, Brett Moffitt and Joe Graf Jr. on the frontstretch of Lap 78, drawing the first on-track caution.

There’s one event left in the Dash 4 Cash program: June 28 at Pocono Raceway (12:30 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Haley, Chastain, Austin Cindric (fourth) and Alex Labbe (ninth) will be racing for the last $100,000 check.

RELATED: Learn all about the Dash 4 Cash program

Posted on by Reid Spencer

On a banner day for Kaulig Racing at Talladega Superspeedway, Justin Haley got his first NASCAR Xfinity Series victory and Ross Chastain got the cash.

Haley, who doesn’t have a ride locked down for next year, beat teammate Chastain to the finish line by .299-seconds at the end of a three-lap dash in Saturday’s Unhinged 300 at the 2.66-mile track.

Chastain collected the $100,000 Xfinity Dash 4 Cash bonus as the highest finisher among four eligible drivers—a week after teammate AJ Allmendinger claimed an identical cash prize with a fourth-place run at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

With Allmendinger winning in a part-time role June 7 at Atlanta, Kaulig now has won two of the last four Xfinity Series races in addition to the consecutive cash bonuses.

RELATED: Race results

An emotional Haley climbed from the right-side window of his car after the race, with more than one reason to be choked up by the maiden win. Haley’s crew chief during his rookie season, Nick Harrison, passed away unexpectedly on July 21 last year, and Haley celebrated his bond with his former crew chief.

“First of all, I want to dedicate this win to Nick Harrison and the Harrison family, who started this journey with me last year in my rookie year,” Haley said. “Losing him was pretty big.

“Just an incredible day. Emotionally, I’m fighting for a ride, fighting for the next time I get in a race car next year, so anytime you can win, it definitely helps.”

As for climbing through the “wrong” window, Haley said he was looking for a signature move after winning. 

“I’m the littlest guy,” said the 21-year-old. “I’m the only one that can do it, and I still struggled.”

MORE: Details on the Dash 4 Cash program in 2020

Fortuitously, all three Kaulig drivers were on pit road on Lap 76, when Riley Herbst’s spin off the bumper of fifth-place finisher Brett Moffitt’s Chevrolet caused the fourth caution of the afternoon. The three teammates restarted up front on Lap 81 of 113 and were contenders thereafter.

Jeb Burton had the lead for the restart with three laps left, but with help from Chastain, Haley pulled away on the final lap. Burton came home third and Austin Cindric grabbed fourth.

“When I saw Justin get free of the 8 car (Burton), I knew it was his race, and I honestly have never been so happy to finish second,” Chastain said.

Allgaier triggered the last caution when JR Motorsports teammate Noah Gragson checked up behind Chastain’s block on Lap 106.

“It was just disappointing,” Allgaier said. “I hate it for everybody at JR Motorsports. Right there, Noah had a really good run to the outside of the 10 (Chastain), and he pulled up to block, and as soon as he did, it started to get (Gragson’s) car loose.

“He checked up, and I ran into the back of him. I thought we were going to be OK, and then (JRM teammate) Michael (Annett) got into the back of me.”

Harrison Burton’s record streak of 10 straight top-10 finishes as a Sunoco rookie came to an end in Turn 3 on Lap 97. The No. 52 Chevrolet of Kody Vanderwal checked up after contact with the car of Jefferey Earnhardt in front of him, turned sideways near the top of the track and chased the No. 20 Toyota of Burton down the track. Contact from Vanderwal’s car turned Burton sideways and propelled him nose first into the outside wall. The cars of Joe Graf Jr., Josh Williams and Colin Garrett also were collected.

“It looks like we were all running the top and we were single file, and they checked up really hard,” said Burton, who had finished in the top 10 with two wins in the first 10 races of the season. “I don’t know if I didn’t get checked up in time. It looks like one of them got sideways and then it was just all over.

“It’s so hard to tell what’s going on. There’s so much going on, even when you’re running single file. Just a tough day for us. We had a fast race car and trying to make moves work on the bottom. Just kind of got shuffled to the back and from then on, that’s just kind of how it went down.”

Gragson salvaged a 10th-place result and maintained a 15-point lead over second-place Chase Briscoe in the series standings.

Up next, the NASCAR Xfinity Series heads to Pocono Raceway for the Pocono Green 225 Recycled by J.P. Mascaro & Son on June 28 (12:30 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Haley, Chastain, Cindric and Alex Labbe are the Dash 4 Cash eligible drivers.

Note: The No. 21 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet driven by Anthony Alfredo was found to have one lug nut not safe and secure in post-race inspection.

Contributing: Staff reports

Posted on by Track Release

TALLADEGA, Ala. — Astronaut Doug Hurley, currently 250 miles above Earth on board the International Space Station as commander of SpaceX’s historic Demo-2 (DM-2) spaceflight, will give the command to fire engines for Monday’s GEICO 500 NASCAR Cup Series race at Talladega Superspeedway.

Talladega, NASCAR’s longest track, will be one of the first sports venues to have a return of fans — up to 5,000 — in attendance. The GEICO 500, set for a 3 p.m. ET start, will be broadcast live on FOX, MRN Radio and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. Chase Elliott is the race’s defending champion.

TALLADEGA: Weekend schedule | Starting lineup | Fans allowed

DM-2 is the first crewed spaceflight launched from American soil since STS-135, the final flight of the Space Shuttle program, in July 2011. Hurley, a longtime NASCAR fan, served as pilot for that mission. DM-2 also represents history’s first crewed commercial flight.

Hurley is a veteran of one other spaceflight — STS-127 in July 2009. A native of Endicot, New York, who considers nearby Apalachin his hometown, Hurley is a graduate of Tulane University and the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School. Prior to joining NASA as a member of the 2000 astronaut candidate class, he was a test and fighter pilot in the U.S. Marine Corps.

Apollo 11 astronaut Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin, the second man to walk on the moon, was the Grand Marshal of the 1994 summer Talladega 500. Aldrin added a personal touch in commanding the drivers to start their engines, stating, “Gentlemen, energize your groundcraft.”

NASCAR’s modified event procedures, protocols and number of attendees for the GEICO 500 have been finalized with guidance from public health officials, medical experts and local, state and federal officials. In order to adhere to local social-distancing guidelines, the limited number of guests will be allowed in the frontstretch grandstands and towers. In addition, there will be limited motorhome and fifth-wheel camping spots — 44 — available outside the track high atop the Alabama Superstretch.

The GEICO 500 will be the anchor event of the weekend, which will also feature a doubleheader Saturday. The General Tire 200 for the ARCA Menards Series gets the green flag at 2 p.m. ET, followed by the Unhinged 300 at for the NASCAR Xfinity Series at 5:30 p.m. ET. Both events will compete without fans in attendance but will be broadcast live on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

Posted on by Staff Report

Stewart-Haas Racing confirmed in a statement Friday night that two of its employees who work from the team’s shop in North Carolina have tested positive for COVID-19.

The full statement: “Stewart-Haas Racing has experienced two positive COVID-19 test results, neither of which involve personnel who travel to race events. Robust protocols have been in place and continue to be followed diligently to mitigate the spread of the virus while maintaining the health and safety of all members of the organization and greater community.”

NASCAR returned to racing May 17 following a two-month pause due to the novel coronavirus. The return came with an enhanced, deliberate plan as NASCAR worked closely with health experts and government officials to ensure best practices.

Part of those safeguards includes keeping road crew members separate from the designated staff who primarily work in the shop.

NASCAR and track officials have also made screening and other wellness checks mandatory for essential at-track personnel.

TEAM PENSKE

Saturday afternoon, Team Penske announced in a statement that one of its team members had tested positive for COVID-19 earlier in the week as well.

“Earlier this week, Team Penske had one of its team members report positive for COVID-19,” the statement read. “This employee has been in quarantine all week and has recovered without any further symptoms. Due to the team’s stringent protocols, only a few of our personnel had reason to quarantine and none of those individuals are experiencing any symptoms. The identities of those impacted, along with additional details, will not be released due to privacy concerns.”